Darwin the Man and His Journey

Edit 0 5 …

Lesson Title: Lesson 4 Darwin the Man and His Journey




State Standards:

  • Natural selection leads to organisms that are well-suited for survival in particular environments. 5F/H6a

  • The continuing operation of natural selection on new characteristics and in diverse and changing environments, over and over again for millions of years, has produced a succession of diverse new species. 5F/H10 (SFAA)
Context of Lesson:
  • Class time: 1 class period, 47 minutes
  • Classroom: Biology Lab
  • Students have been introduced to some of the principles of the theory of evolution in preceeding lessons.
  • Lesson 4 will introduce them to Darwin, his voyage, and the events that led to his ideas about the origins of species and his controversial theory.
  • A discussion of the process of natural selection will be indicated as the underlying concept to come from Darwin's experiences

Materials:

Objectives:
  • Students will demonstrate an understanding of Darwin's historic voyage on the Beagle by producing a map of the voyage, including a synopsis of Darwin's notes at each port of call.
  • Students will share findings from each of the HMS Beagle's ports of call in order to develop a class-wide understanding of the significance of Darwin's observations and how they influenced the eventual construction of his theory of evolution

Instruction: Opening
Class time
 Activity
 Description
10 min
 Opening Question
  • Students will be asked: Who was this man, Charles Darwin?
  • Discussion will ensue
  • When they are warmed up we will setup the exercise
  • Students will be given the handout from the PBS website entitled Evolution Revolution,
  • Students will be grouped in pairs, based on proximal seating, and assigned one port of call to read and summarize, with intent to present to the class ar large









Engagement:
Class time
 Activity
 Description
20 min
 Reading & Mapping
 * Students will work in pairs to draw the route of the Beagle as described in the excerpts from Charles Darwin’s Voyage of the Beagle
* Each group will be assigned one port of call to summarize Darwin’s observations & findings.
  • The students will write their summaries (in bullet form) on a 2 ft x 2ft white board
  • I will circulate the room to direct and facilitate










Closure:
Class time
 Activity
 Description
17 min
 Class
(jigsaw)
  • Each group will display their whiteboards, with notes of the global position of the HMS Beagle associated with Darwin's observations at their assigned port of call.
  • Each group will also verbaly present their summaries to the class (in chronological order) highlighting the longitude and latitude coordinates; the port of call; & any interesting findings reported by Darwin.










Assessment:
  • assessment is formative based on group observations; class discussion and class presentations.